Thirty-two teams have begun their attempt to win the 2018 Vietnam Robot Contest (Robocon Vietnam) in the final round, which opened in the evening of May 8 in Vinh Yen city, the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

At a ceremony opening the round, Dinh Dac Vinh, Deputy General Director of the Vietnam Television (VTV) and head of the Robocon Vietnam organising board, said the concept of the contest is “Throwing con”, inspired by a Vietnamese folk game.

“Throwing con” is popular among northern ethnic minority people during festivals, in which players throw a ball made from cloth through a ring on top of a 15-20m tall bamboo pole.

According to the board, the final round will last until May 13, with the group competition taking place from May 8-11. Matches among groups are scheduled for 8 pm every day during its course and are broadcast live on VTV2.

At these matches, each team brings to the game two robots – one automatic and one controlled by a remote – which coordinate to throw the con following the rule.

The 32 participating teams come from 10 universities and colleges nationwide. The Lac Hong University in the southern province of Dong Nai, the Hung Yen University of Technology and Education in the north, and the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education each has five teams entering the final round.

Two strongest teams of the 2018 Robocon Vietnam will represent Vietnam to take part in the ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest (ABU Robocon), which is slated for August 26 in the northern province of Ninh Binh.

Vietnam has triumphed at the ABU Asia-Pacific Robot Contest six times. The championships were claimed by Ho Chi Minh City University of Science and Technology in 2002, 2004 and 2006, while Lac Hong University won in 2014 and 2017, and Hung Yen University of Technology and Education took the title in 2015.